Five great reasons to throw a fancy dress party

With San Diego Comic Con recently closing its doors and Halloween on the horizon, fancy dress and cosplay are currently topics of great discussion.

Dressing up in costume is a bit of a Marmite subject – some people love to be creative and put together a fun costume while for others fancy dress is a chore that costs money and takes up time. However, finding a costume to complement any theme is never an issue nowadays, you can even get hold of all-in-one designs.

Whether you need convincing that a fancy dress party is the thing to organise this year or if you need to persuade some stubborn guests to take part, we have some great reasons, as well as some fun ideas for themes and games.

The perfect theme

It’s all about the theme when it comes to a fancy dress party. A generic theme is easy to suggest, but it is never as fun and also makes decorating the venue harder. Try something a little different because, let’s be honest, we’ve done Cowboys and Indians or Beach Party themes to death. Choose a specific film or TV show, or encourage couples and groups to come dressed in matching outfits.

A great theme to try is a Rubik’s Cube: this involves guests turning up to the party in an outfit that has the six colours of a Rubik’s Cube represented by at least one piece of clothing – for example yellow t-shirt, red shorts, one blue sock, one green sock – then guests must swap clothing throughout the night to try to complete one side of the cube. It’s a fun way for people to interact and provides an easy costume solution for everyone.

The theme of song titles is also a great idea and an unusual one. It doubles up as a fun guessing game too, as people try to guess which song you are representing. You could dress up as an “umbrella”, a “she-wolf” or a “Barbie girl”. It’s also a great theme for encouraging people to get creative.

Breaking the ice

If you’re having a large party then some guests might find the prospect of meeting new people a little daunting. A good idea is to allocate matching, paired costumes to people beforehand. This will get guests mingling among each other, while the aim of the night is to find the person wearing the other half of their costume. For example, there could be a doctor and a nurse, a knight and a princess, bacon and eggs, Power Rangers or the Mario brothers.

Charity starts with a costume

If you’re the charitable type or have a cause you feel strongly about, a fancy dress party is the perfect excuse to raise some money. People can sponsor other guests beforehand to dress in costumes of their choice – be prepared for a few Borat mankinis though, if people are brave enough!

Get crafty

There is nothing more satisfying than designing, sourcing all the supplies and then putting together your perfect costume. You don’t need to be a whizz on a sewing machine either, visit shops like Primark for reasonably priced clothing that you are happy to cut up and never underestimate the power of tissue paper and PVA glue – remember when you would dip your hands in the glue pot so you could peel the dry glue off later? There’s no reason why you can’t partake in a little childish fun again, while making your very grown-up costume…

Fun stuff

It’s all good fun. Even if your costume is handmade and doesn’t exactly look how you envisaged a fancy dress party is still a great way to get everyone together under the same roof to celebrate an occasion.

So hang up those streamers and decorations, don your mask and don’t forget to have fun! We don’t think you need any further convincing…

Amanda Walters